Arthritis pain?

[Night Elf]

So I've been told I have arthritis in my right big toe. Okay. Weird, but I can accept that. 

I've been working at the thrift store for over a year. My legs have always hurt but now it's my hips. The pain comes and goes but for the past few days has really hurt. It is definitely aggravated by being on my feet for 6 hours at a time, on hard concrete. I do have those mats in front of the register but I don't stand there all day. I'm moving around. As the day goes by, the pain increases. When I get home and sit down, the pain is minimal. However, when I  get up, the pain is awful. I have to take baby steps to move. So today I'm going in to see my doctor about it. If this is arthritis, is there anything that can be done? I don't want to quit my job but yesterday was especially bad. That's why I made an appointment for today. Right now my pain is a 3 on a scale of 1-10. I took 440 mg of Naproxen about 45 minutes ago and put heat on it. The advice nurse suggested heat over ice since I don't see any swelling. 

Frankly, I don't want to go to work at all today. I just know it's going to hurt. If I do go in, I don't think I can get there before 2:15 and we close at 6:00 pm so at least it won't be a really long shift. I am thinking of asking the  doctor for a work excuse for today and tomorrow is my day off, so I can just rest, but I know from personal experience that a couple of days of rest doesn't really help when I go back to work.

 

[Laura Corin]

I have an arthritic knee.  Regular yoga means that it doesn't hurt during the day and only occasionally at night

[ktgrok]

Could be arthritis but could be something more acute like synovitis or bursitis or something along those lines. I thought the pain in my hands was arthritis but it was synovitis. Tooks weeks to go away - basically NSAIDS until those upset my stomach and resting them - not doing the stuff that really aggravated them. 

[Anne]

Maybe evaluate your shoes to be sure you have the best support.  Also, there are a variety of exercises for your hips that will help keep the hip joint looser and build up the surrounding muscles, including your quads and knees, to keep pain to a minimum.

Anne

[Pronghorn]

I have arthritis in my big toes. I take glucosamine chondroitin with msm, and I seldom have symptoms now. I also buy shoes that are a little big and so don't squish my toes. Fish oil may help some too.

[hippiemamato3]

It's ok to take a day off. Give your body a chance to rest!

[Annie G]

Yeah, like has been mentioned, check for gout. But  if it’s arthritis, Meloxicam works pretty well for me.  However,  even with it my pain level is often at a three, but it’s way better than I feel without it.  On bad days I can’t use my hands until at least lunchtime. 
‘Has it been a while since you’ve bought new shoes or new inserts for your shoes? That might help. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Just seeing this @Night Elf...  Arthritis in your big toe can set off other problems in your foot and knee and hip. It changes how you balance your weight and it can change your gait.  I would go see your doctor and be really open about how much this is affecting you.  There are things that they can do besides give painkillers---a good podiatrist can help by doing injections, creating shoe orthotics, giving you stretches, etc. depending on what the problem is.